You never know where the next Tiger Woods prodigy may pop up, and the young duffers of Northwest Colorado showed they have bright futures on the links.

The Yampa Valley Youth Golf Club hosted its inaugural Drive, Chip & Putt Challenge on Aug. 19 at Yampa Valley Golf Course, with players from ages 5 to 13 showing their talents.

After 10 weeks of practice, young athletes demonstrated their capabilities in driving, chipping and putting.

Rather than the rules of stroke play, golfers were trying to get a higher score based on the distance and straightness of drives, the accuracy of chipping onto the green and the ability to sink a putt — or at least be the one closest to the pin.

Each player got a cumulative score based on their combined efforts in the three sections, with Camden Loya winning the 5-7 age group, Trace Binder the victor for ages 8-9 and Jack Veenstra the winner in the 10-13 group.

While 16 young golfers competed in the event, about twice that many participated in the junior golf sessions over the summer.

Trini Loya coached the group, which also included high school ages.

“We pretty much worked on fundamentals, helping them with their stance and just hitting the ball,” he said. “Then we got into some of the funner events like chipping into a hula hoop. We geared them more toward being able to do that challenge, learn how to drive far correctly.”

Loya added that while most players were brand-new to the game, their progress showed greatly nearly three months after the start of the clinic.

While some competitors barely could hold up a club at first, helping them figure out the mechanics was worth it.

“By the end of it, I think they all got a pretty good grasp on how to play and etiquette on the course,” Loya said. “We didn’t want to get too strict about anything, just have fun with all of it.”